Call me a believer in fairy tales. Tell me I watch too many rom-coms and don’t have a clue about what a real relationship is about. Whenever I meet a man (not too often during these pandemic times) and fall in love (way too often no matter what times) I always think THAT man is the one for me. And THAT relationship will last forever. I don’t even care so much about getting married. My dream is to be engaged with the most beautiful ring on my finger.
Talking about the ring, it wasn’t just one diamond. Mine had a set of three!
The chef asked me to go for a walk with him one night. As we approached his Jeep I found roses on my side of the seat and a lovely hand written card. At that instant I knew something big was about to happen.
We drove to the beach on our plantation. The chef had a picnic basket with him. This was like a dream. I’ll walk to the beach anytime, especially with the man I love. I adore the flowers and the picnics. This was perfect! We sat down on a blanket and the chef opened the basket. He took out a bottle of champagne, 2 flutes, and… a chocolate cake! Didn’t I say it was perfect? On top of the delicious looking cake I saw the words in red icing : ‘Vilma, will you marry me?’
I remember his face. Easy smile was playing on his lips and reflecting in his lovely brown eyes. ‘Yes!’ – I said. I didn’t think about it, not for a second. Of course I will marry this man!
He took out a white box. I opened it and saw the ring. He put it on my ring finger (it was too big so the middle finger had to do for the time being). We kissed. Now THAT is a beautiful fairy tale ending to my engagement story.
But the story is just beginning. The chef, now my fiance, loved New York City. He had lived there a few years ago and kept dreaming about going back. I had only read about The Big Apple in magazines and seen the skyline of the city in every episode of Friends (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108778/)
So after a few days and many phone calls to family and friends announcing the wonderful news, after never ending looks at my ring finger (I honestly just couldn’t stop looking!) we packed our bags and set off towards NYC.